U.S. soccer president tells CNN more misconduct cases reported, more coming:
U.S. Soccer president told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday that U.S. soccer faces more misconduct cases in the last year by multiple sources.
“There have been more people coming out and saying they’ve been victims of violence from our players,” Puskarich said. “People have been telling us they have been assaulted, they’ve been racially abused, they’ve been sexually violated. Many people within the soccer community have been telling us that, which I think is very important, because otherwise you hear nothing from the U.S. soccer administration about these issues. So I think that’s important.
“I think the public deserves to know more about this issue,” he added. “To my knowledge, the NFL has never had a case like this. Football players have never been involved in a criminal investigation. And yet here we are.”
The U.S. Soccer Federation — which oversees player contracts and discipline — told Tapper the incidents it’s aware of include alleged sexual assaults by former U.S. women’s soccer player Alex Morgan, reports ESPN.com’s Jeff Carlisle, who has been in contact with U.S. Soccer. Tapper quoted an email Morgan provided. “The federation will continue to monitor the situation and is working closely with law enforcement officials,” it said.
But Puskarich said, “We’re at a point where we have to see that it’s not just Alex Morgan being brought up as a topic for discussion.”
Morgan has said she reported the incident to the U.S. Soccer officials — whom she accused of being sympathetic and not investigating the allegations. Morgan added that the U.S. Soccer president, Sunil Gulati, was not available to talk.
Morgan’s attorney, Michael Bayley, told ESPN.com that he expects more and more cases from the women in the program.
He has received a total of 13 alleged complaints from 11 former players, but has not seen a complaint that details more than a few isolated incidents.
Among the players Morgan said she reported to to U.S. Soccer were Olympic teammate, Mallory Pugh, who is